Of all the contentious rock ‘n’ roll breakups throughout history, Pink Floyd (and, more specifically, the feud between its two creative leads, David Gilmour and Roger Waters) is one of the best-known. Both Gilmour and Waters have stated they have no intentions of ever reuniting as a band. However, Gilmour made an exception in 2022.
On April 8, two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Pink Floyd released a one-off charity single, “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” In July, a physical version dropped with a new version of “A Great Day For Freedom” from Division Bell as the song’s B-side.
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Gilmour wanted “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” to show support for Ukraine. To garner the most support, he opted to capitalize on his largest platform: the band he vowed never to reunite after their 2014 release “Louder Than Words”. “I thought this could be something that we use our platform for, for enormous good,” Gilmour told Rolling Stone.
The Lineup for “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” Looked a Little Different
In 2022, the only surviving members of Pink Floyd were David Gilmour, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason. With Gilmour and Waters not on speaking terms, Mason was the only other original member to perform on “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” The lineup also looked different in other ways, most notably, the inclusion of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, a Ukrainian singer who famously quit touring with his band, BoomBox, to fight in the Ukrainian military.
Khlyvnyuk’s a capella rendition of the Ukrainian anthem “Oh, The Red Viburnum In The Meadow” inspired Gilmour to reunite Pink Floyd in the first place. After Gilmour’s daughter-in-law, Ukrainian artist Janina Pedan, showed the ex-Pink Floyd rocker Khlyvnyuk’s performance on social media, Gilmour decided to amplify the rocker-turned-soldier’s voice even further by collaborating with him as Pink Floyd. “That piece of singing immediately got me thinking of turning it into something,” Gilmour said in his 2022 Rolling Stone interview.
The Song Gave Ex-Pink Floyd Member David Gilmour a Renewed Purpose
Pink Floyd’s star power was an inarguable boost to Andriy Khlvynyuk’s profile, but he wasn’t the only artist benefiting from this musical collaboration. For David Gilmour, the choice to arrange the Ukrainian singer’s a cappella song into a full-blown Pink Floyd track gave him renewed purpose. “I felt the frustration of not being able to do anything,” he said. “And Andriy coming along with this piece of vocal helped to free me from that to some extent that I could actually put my abilities and reputation towards doing something concrete for that particular nation at this particular moment.”
Otherwise, Gilmour maintains that he has no plans to reunite Pink Floyd. As it stands, humanitarian aid during wartime is the only cause Gilmour finds worthy enough for which to go back on his word.
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